Eddie Jones: Establishing a Mindset for Success

Eddie Jones made headlines when he became the first foreign-born head coach of the England national rugby union team in 2015, having previously led the Japanese national team to its first-ever top 10 global ranking. He visited Goldman Sachs’ Tokyo office to discuss his leadership approach, emphasizing preparation, effort and attitude.

On preparation: "Preparation is everything. You’ve got to prepare to win. If you don’t, you’re not competing. Sometimes a scoreboard doesn’t love you, and you get beaten. But if you keep preparing well, you’re going to win the next game, which might be more important than the game you just lost."

On empowering your team: "What you’re trying to do is make yourself redundant – that’s the ultimate test of leadership. If your team can go about and do their job with 100 percent effort and 100 percent attitude, then you’ve led that team well. Sometimes [leadership] is about making motivational speeches, but most of the time it’s about getting people to work at their absolute optimum."